Francis Crick Avenue Cycling Oddity

Well I say oddity, it's more of an irritation that goes a long way to show how the thinking around cycling provision is so "un-joined up".

Francis Crick Avenue is a new road built for hospital access from junction 11 on the M11. Although it's quite clear that it's also going to be used as an access road to new developments that are likely to fill in the fields between the hospital and Trumpington as it's been built with lots of side road access points.

The road was developed in a similar time frame (albeit a bit quicker) as the guided busway. The guided busway has cycling provision alongside it, which is good (but has it's own issues).

The Google map of the specific area is repeated in JPG form below.


All the cyclepaths that exist at either end of a third of a mile section of Francis Crick Avenue are on one side of the road. The natural thought would be that the developers would have built a single two-way off-road cyclepath to connect these paths up. After all it's only a third of a mile, there's plenty of space, even in the currently used road-space, and it would ensure as much separation as possible. That way, people cycling would have felt safe away from motor traffic. Likewise, people driving would have felt more comfortable having less squishy bodies on the same bit of tarmac as them.

So that's what was built, wasn't it? No. Instead, the space was used to create a ridiculous road layout. with separate on-road cyclepaths in the gutter of each road direction. This is a tad irritating when coming from the south (Addenbrookes Cyclepath Link and the Bridge Cyclepath) as people cycling are dropped into the road. It's infuriating the other way as, for about a minutes worth of riding, people cycling have to cross the main carriageway, twice.

Admittedly, if coming from the north along Francis Crick Avenue, people cycling would naturally come along that side of the road. But if they are going to continue along the cyclepaths they will cross at some point, so why not at the start of this section.

Here's a clip showing exactly how this appears.


The obvious point here is that whilst the developments where happening at roughly the same time, why was the through-provision considered at all? Cambridge is one of the cycling hubs of this country. If it's not got right here, what hope the rest of the country?

Silly Cyclepath Route Near Sawston

National Cycle Network Route 11 goes south from Cambridge along the fantastic Addenbrookes cyclepath. Through the leafy villages of Great Shelford and Stapleford it joins quiet roads before crossing the main A1301 in the village and joining a shared path. This is one of the better ones, although it could do with a bit more space.  It takes the rider south crossing the river Granta (a side stream that turns into the Bourn) in a nice green space called Clerk's Piece and then on towards Sawston on the side of the A1301.

The junction to the north of Sawston is a bit of a disaster area. It's clearly been designed with the idea of making sure people cycling stop before crossing either road in some kind of hyper-safe manner, whilst clearly saying that people driving shouldn't bother their little heads with vunerable people crossing, and continue to speed along the road.

Here's a satellite picture showing routes around this, although I'd recommend looking at the map in Google Maps (and below) as it's much more interactive.




View Sawston Junction in a larger map

Notice the way that the planned cycle route follows a series of tight turns. On the bike there is no need for them at all, so why are they there? The only reason that I can see for using a good perceanage more tarmac than is needed, and in such a twisted way, is to make people cycling slow down.

However, this is only done in space that is available, so it's not really a serious priority. Notice the funny loop on the east side of the A1301 is not repeated on the west side because there's limited space. So, it's fine unless digging and/or land purchase is needed. What does that say about the real importance of the loop?

What is the pratical result of this peculiar cyclepath arrangement. Well, it's quite clear that most people cycling don't use it. So, for all the posible (although arguable) safety enhancements the result is that they are completely ignored. There are 3 paths that most people cycling adopt, completely legally, to avoid the unnecessary meanderings. First, even using both crossings, there's now a well worn path (in purple) cutting the corner and straightening the route. Then, for either direction a lot of people cycling simply completely ignore the cyclepath across the island and use the road instead (green and turquoise).

Effectively, any safety enhancements planned are so over the top that they are completely ignored, thus actually making the junction more dangerous not less.



So what should be done here. A simple answer would be the red route. Taking the cycle route further down the A1301 and crossing after the junction. This reduces the number of road crossings from 2 down to 1, reducing danger considerably. It's also of similar length and reduces the need to "slow down" people cycling, something that it close to our hearts!

This could be included in a revamped National Cycle Network Route 11 that goes alongside the A1301 (yellow route) to it's eventual destination at the mill junction (next one down). For school reasons, the current National Cycle Network Route 11does a big dogleg through the village. This is still needed for the school kids, but for anyone going further it's frustrating to have to go 40-50% further than necessary!

The knock-on from the red route change is that the road junction would become more limited. By putting the crossing in that place, the turn for road traffic from the northbound A1301 (so from the bottom of the picture) onto the "Cambridge Road" back to Sawston would have to be taken away. The lane for the turn appears in the middle of the road which would be required for a crossing island. Okay, now pan back on Google Maps to see how many may be affected by losing this turn. I can see maybe 2 locations, essentially nobody really. So no-one needs to do this turn.

Then looking at what removing that turn does. It means the only required road access form the A1301 onto the "Cambridge Road" is from the north (top), which is served by the slip-lane at the north-east (top right corner). So why not make the junction one-way only? The reduces the amount of space needed for the road and could be used to improve the cycle junction.

I confess I don't know when this cycling provision was put in. I suspect the past decade. It may be a small thing, but it shows the attitude. The entire scheme smacks of a complete failure to understand any of the practical results or spot any of the obvious gains by a bit more thought. What clearly has been thought: YOU CANNOT TAKE ANYTHING FROM THE MOTORISTS! NOT ANYTHING! And with that attitude goes a whole generation of potential transport improvements for all people, including motorists.

Celebrating the British Victory

Although that title is a bit misleading. Cycle teams really don't think nationality-wise. It's about your team mates.


A few celebratory pictures from my living room.


Close up of Cav on his way to the fourth Champs-Élysées win.




Cav riding in line.




The best of British cycling together.




Oi! Bloody Right Light Jumping Cyclists!




The move onto the Champs-Élysées. Note the celebration about to happen, and may just see the Lotto bottle on the shelves. Given from the back of a support vehicle on top of the Col du Solour in 2010. It was full of a rather sweet pink, hot liquid (it was pouring with rain at ~1500m above see level). Quite what else was in the drink, we didn't know!

Wet Weather Riding

Or whether or not


To get people comfortable with cycling the infrastructure they use must be convenient, go to the right places, be safe, and usuable in 99% of all conditions. Never 100%. The weather is sufficiently random for me to understand you can never expect to do whatever you want whenever you want to do it.

Cambridge is pretty good for cyclepaths. There are quite a few separate ones. Unfortunately they are separate which doesn't help much. Nevermind that, let's at least feel comforted that they are safe. Hmm, well, maybe. And usuable in pretty much all conditions? Well, not really. The whole point of encouraging cycling is completely destroyed if, as soon as it starts raining, we all run back to our cars.




Now these conditions were reasonably extreme, but still should be dealt with by properly constructed infrastructure. After all, no-one would think twice about driving in these conditions, so they shouldn't when cycling. Otherwise, simply, people will default to their basic means.

Just so you know, I've been specially trained to deal with harse conditions. I'm not wearing hi-viz, not wearing heavy waterproof gear, not wearing special shoes. No, I'm in sandals, light shorts, a teeshirt, and a cap. The cap keeps the rain out of my eyes, and the rest dries within 5 minutes of me arriving home.

At the start of this clip you can see the onroad cyclelane is tiny, filled with water & debris, and has plenty of slippery paint. Not sure if that's a very safe environment. Not least that when every car passes a fair degree of water is sprayed sideways. Do notice that the majority of water is drained from the road to make sure people driving in cars have a clear road. Of course is all deposited in the cyclelane.

At 23 seconds approaching the lights, notice the zig-zag paint lines. Not conducive for slowing down effectively as the wheels slip and slide on the wet paint. And then of course, abandoning the cyclelane is required as the person driving the van fron the left pulls their front into it. Continuing on, notice the drain covers that have become slippery wet metal covers to avoid at all costs.

At 1:37 the separated cyclepath appears. Woo hoo! But attempting to get into it across the side road is pushing it a bit too far with a rough entry point that has become uneven and has, yes, you guessed it, another metal cover in the middle of it. Of course, because I've not immediately doffed my cap to the far superior person driving a car and got out of the way, I get a close pass for my arrogance.

Anyway, into the segragated path, all is well. Well? Do notice all the puddles going straight across the path? Each one could contain a pothole. Luckily I know where all the potholes are down here. But if you didn't, this would not be a comfortable experience. The other thing to note about the puddles going straight across the path is that it shows off the structural failures of the path. This causes a very awkward bouncing of the bike going along it (and even in dry times!). If any road was like this, it'd be fixed becauses of the outcries from people driving (ruining suspension, not very comfortable, yada, yada). Of course it's more irritating on a bike as it makes a lot more difficult to ride along it.

At 2:18 the first of the cycle traps appears. These slick bits of paving are designed to trap the wheel so that if any slight line correction is needed the wheels are held firmly in line and the person cycling is appropriately dumped next to it. These are nicely lined with water.

Notice that all along here the footpath to the side is completely overgrown. It's not been cleared for several months. So we are back to the "shared path" concept, not a footpath and cyclepath.

Then, at 2:38 the first of the humungous puddles appears. Now, as I say, I'm trained in extreme sports, so have the capabilities of plowing on and know I'm not about to hit a pothole. If I was coming down here for the first 30 times, I'm not sure I'd feel the same. Again, notice that the road is nicely dry.

More cross puddles, more cycle traps. More metal covers. And repeat. And repeat.

Then at 3:42 the second humungous puddle. There is a bit of the footpath to the left that is clear. Now, perhaps most would simply ride over there. This is unfortunately breaking the law. And of course a person cycling, if they break the law, they must be taken in front a judge, have 12 people look down their noses at them expressing their outrage at such an audacious, lethal, and terrifying action, then taken to an open place to be placed in the stocks for three days, and finally hung, drawn, and quartered.

I found out the reason that this puddle exists on the way up. It was on the road.  I just caught the last of the movement of the water from the road to the cyclepath as a vehicle deliberately moved over to the remnants of the road-puddle and drove through it splashing it up onto the cyclepath, luckily just missing me as I saw what was about to happen a second or so earlier.

At 3:52, at the bus-stop section of this puddle, notice the way the tarmac between the cyclepath and the road is raised. This is just ot make sure none of that pesky water doesn't run back into the road and get in the way of those superior people driving cars. Or head towards any kind of drain.

More cross puddles, more cycle traps. More metal covers. And repeat. And repeat.

at 5:15 notice the jogger in the cyclepath. They clearly don't think anyone will be cycling right now! They do jump out of the way, and we share a comical look to the skies.

At 6:15 I start my wait to get onto an ajoining cyclepath. 45 seconds wait later you see the other reason no-one wants to cycle here.

The shared path is more awkward in the rain. Anyone with the backs to you really, really don't know you are there, so extra care and no speed remotely acheivable.

At 8:20 a nice thing! This person driving can see they are not going to get out, so pulls back in to let me pass. This happens sometimes along here, mostly not of course.

At 8:43 the final puddle. This one of course created because cars have to cross thus have created the depresions to hold the puddle water.

At 8:52 another hazard of shared paths in the rain, umbrellas. Evasive action required!

So, would you want to ride to the shops given you are going to do it at a certain point in time, pretty much whatever the weather is doing?

As I say, I'm specially trained. If you've not been on a bike for decades I can see why you would simply head back to the car. Hence our transport system will stay stuck in the 1980s model and will continue to choke the life out of this country.

Cambridge to Whittlesford and Return

Using NCN11 vs the traditional road route

There are 2 routes to Whittlesford from near Cambridge railway station. The traditional one down the main, but not too busy, Shelford Road and the new one following National Cycle Network Route 11.

This second route has really only just opened up thanks to recent changes between Whittlesford and Sawston. It is 7.5 miles instead of the straight 7 miles of the Shelford Road route. However, having 75% of it off-road compared to less than half on the old route, more than makes up for it. And the remaining 25% is on quiet residential village roads. It's quiet enough to feel quite safe whilst riding. Something that not always felt on the Shelford road.

From the railway station, the new guided busway route and spur gets as far as the Addenbrookes cyclepath. At the other end of that there's a short section through Shelford into Stapleford before coming out to the next offroad section alongside the A-road to Sawston. The Sawston dog-leg is a bit irritating, but it was built to support local schoolkids getting to the schools in the large village. Crossing the railway and then the river Cam or Granta (note not "river Granta"!) and the new Whittlesford cyclepath appears. This is a converted footpath, but so many kids had been using it, it seemed silly to keep it as such. There are some highly amusing "Slow Pedestrians Ahead" signs, but that's better than the old (and misunderstood) "Cyclists Dismount" signs.

The route maps in Google Maps are red for Shelford Road route, blue for the NCN11 route. And it is thin for off-road sections and thick for on-road sections.


View Cambridge to Whittlesford Routes in a larger map

The last time I came back along the traditional Shelford Road route on a Sunday night I saw my first car at Addenbrookes hospital and wasn't passed by one until Hills Road railway bridge. The route can have cars on it but isn't a busy road.

For a video view, some photos, and some explanation of the local river naming around the NCN11 route (in reverse) look at my Wimpole Folly and the Three Cams post.

UPDATE: a 5 minute clip of the full route.



And a postcard a friend gave me.